


Time

by alafaye



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 19:57:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brian and Justin post season 5.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time

Nathan Carmichael certainly wasn't Justin Taylor, but he had managed to worm his way into Brian's life as smoothly as Justin ever had. Nathan was only a few years younger than Brian, owned his own computer software company, and loved the nightlife as much as Brian did. There had been no sudden connection between them when they fucked the first times, but as the months went on, Brian found that he liked having Nathan around.

That was when he started to pull away and left the "family" to console Nathan.

He decided to fly to New York, as a surprise to Justin, and was not shocked to find Justin fucking a trick. He found some beer in the fridge and drank it as he waited.

Justin showed the trick out the door and Brian raised an eyebrow when Justin kissed the trick goodbye. In fact, Brian was rather surprised by the familiarity the two touched other, as if they knew each other rather well.

"Hey," Justin said. He stood by the door, not crossing the distance between them.

And Brian knew in that moment that it really was over. He could feel it in the air. "Hey."

Justin sighed. "That was Andrew. We've...uh, been seeing each other these last months."

"Seeing each other?" Brian repeated.

Justin's shoulders dropped. "Yeah...um...how is Nathan?"

"Who told you?" Brian asked.

"I met Andrew before I heard about Nathan," Justin said. "And I heard from Debbie. You know how she is--if anything is going on with her boys, she knows and has to tell anyone who should know."

"Better than a phone tree," Brian said. He put the bottle down on the counter. "So what does he do?"

"He's the co-owner of a paint supply shop," Justin said.

Brian nodded and felt again a distance between them. Justin walked over and put his hands on Brian's shoulders. "Go home. Nathan is wondering if he did something wrong. You need to talk with him."

Brian hugged Justin, wondering when his life had changed. He knew it had changed when he had met Justin, but now...He pushed Justin away and went down to the street, hailing a cab. He stayed the night in the hotel he had reserved and thought back on the last years.

He liked clubbing, but preferred most nights to stay home. He still tricked, but not as often. He liked fucking Nathan and most of the time, that was enough. He still was the most handsome gay man in Pittsburgh and turned heads no matter where he went. He still had everything, but in a different way.

He wondered what would have happened if he hadn't proposed to Justin and Justin had stayed in Pittsburgh. Would he have kept changing? Or would he have kept going on with his usual habits at the same pace?

When he landed in Pittsburgh, he had the car drop him off at Nathan's. He took a deep breath and knocked.

~~~

_Two Years Later_

The family yelled in surprise when Justin walked in the door and Brian tightened his hold on Nathan's hand, letting his partner know that there was no worries. Justin smiled brightly, reaching behind him for another man--not Andrew--who had been lingering on the porch. Debbie embraced the unknown man and exclaimed that he was absolutely gorgeous.

"So when did you get back, Justin?" Emmett asked.

Justin sat in the space that had been made as Debbie served up two more plates for the guests. "This morning. My mom told me that there was a family dinner tonight that she couldn't attend because of something at Molly's school. She's sorry, by the way, Deb."

"That's okay," Debbie said. "I see her often enough."

"So, tell us, how was Europe?" Ted asked.

"It was amazing. The sights are wonderful and I got so much done there. I loved it." Justin's smile was tight, but it was clear that it had been good for him.

"And where did you find this cutie?" Emmett asked.

Justin turned and smiled brightly. "This is Matthew. We met in Italy in a museum. He was there, traveling with his college group. He's studying for his doctorate in social services."

Matthew blushed. "It's nothing special. A lot of paperwork, mostly."

Conversation continued to flow and Brian sat back, hugging Nathan close. He watched Justin talk and expound on all the little details that had been fascinating about the trip and felt nothing but happiness that Justin was finally doing something with his art and talent.

~~~

_One and a Half Years Later_

Degenerative. Irreversible. No treatment. Brian let himself read over the printed papers again and wondered why. It had been going so well. He had sold Britin quietly, without Nathan ever knowing of its existence, and then sold his loft. They had moved in together into a little house in a quiet neighborhood. Kinnetic had quadrupled its annual return and Nathan's company could not produce the software fast enough to meet demands.

He supposed some God didn't think Brian Kinney deserved to be happy. At least they'd had several years together before a yearly check up had found the abnormality in the routine blood work.

And now Nathan was in the hospital, hooked up to needles and wires and fed through a plastic tube in his arm, dieing.

Much as Brian hated hospitals, he visited Nathan every day, holding his partner's hand and relaying all the parts of the news that Nathan loved to hear about. He brought flowers to brighten up the room and helped the nurses bathe his partner and changed the linens. He did everything he should and more.

He didn't know how he managed to make all the arrangements for the funeral exactly according to Nathan's wishes and the wake was a blur. He remembered, however, that he looked up at the service at the grave and saw that Justin had arrived late, but was nevertheless there. He was alone and stayed behind after, squeezing Brian's shoulder as Brian said one last goodbye.

~~~

_Five Years Later_

"Brian!"

Brian looked up from his dry toast and smiled. He hugged Justin. "Did you just get in?"

Justin nodded and turned over the cup so he could get some coffee. "Yeah. That is a long fucking ride from Austria."

"You have to be where you art is," Brian reminded him.

Justin laughed. "I don't know how my agent talked me into a show out there. No one spoke English except to fuck me and the critics who showed up had their noses so stuck up in the air, I was surprised they didn't run into anything."

"But did your art sell?" Brian asked. He lifted his cup to let the waitress refill it. He gagged when he took a sip. The coffee just hadn't been the same since Debbie had retired for good.

"It did, fabulously," Justin said, "and my agent said that now I've been established across the globe, I can settle down. It'll be good to get to know the street again."

~~~

_One Month Later_

Brian kissed Justin as his lover got into the Jeep and took off for home. "So, how was your day, dear?"

"I sold ten more paintings," Justin said. "Most of them here in the U.S., but a few in Paris, as well."

"Good." He stopped at the light and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He wanted to go home and now.

When the light finally turned green, he moved the Jeep forward and only belatedly heard Justin yell, "Look out!"

~~~

"And they will not be forgotten by any of their friends," the minister said in closing. He turned away from the graves, moving among the gathered group, consoling and hugging any who needed it.

"I can't believe they're gone," Deb whispered, clutching at both Michael and Carl. Her face was drawn and tear streaked.

"I thought I would have been first," Ben said.

Michael leaned closer to Ben. "At least they went together."

There was some general agreement and as one they left for Deb's house.


End file.
